German
The genitive case is used in the German language to show possession. For example:
- das Buch der Schülerin (the book of the schoolgirl) - Feminine
- das Buch des Schülers (the book of the schoolboy) - Masculine
An s is simply added to the end of the name if the identity of the possessor is specified. For example:
- Claudias Buch (Claudia's book)
There is also a genitive case with German pronouns such as 'dein' (your) and 'mein' (my).
The genitive case is also used for objects of some prepositions (e.g. trotz, wegen, statt, während ), and is required as the case of the direct object for some verbs (e.g. gedenken, sich erfreuen, bedürfen; Usage: wir gedachten der Verstorbenen - We remembered the dead; wir erfreuen uns des schönen Wetters - We're happy about the nice weather.).
All of the articles change in the genitive case.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definite article | des | der | des | der |
| Indefinite article | eines | einer | eines | (no article) |
Adjective endings in genitive case:
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definite article | -en | -en | -en | -en |
| Indefinite Article | -en | -en | -en | -en |
| No article | -en | -er | -en | -er |
The following prepositions can take the genitive: außerhalb, innerhalb, statt, trotz, während, wegen, and dank.
The genitive case is widely avoided in most colloquial and dialectal varieties of German. It is replaced by the dative case after verbs and prepositions, and by means of the preposition von ("of") in other contexts. However, this usage is not accepted in the written standard language.
Read more about this topic: Genitive Case
Famous quotes containing the word german:
“I have known a German Prince with more titles than subjects, and a Spanish nobleman with more names than shirts.”
—Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774)
“A German immersed in any civilization different from his own loses a weight equivalent in volume to the amount of intelligence he displaces.”
—José Bergamín (1895–1983)
“Many of our German friends before the war would come as our guest to hunt wild pig. I refused to invite Goering. I could not tolerate his killing a wild pig— seemed too much like brother against brother.”
—Joseph L. Mankiewicz, U.S. director, screenwriter. Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Countess (Danielle Darrieux)